Key to Happiness

The metaphorical key to the happiness of an individual is like its original metal key which is unique to each individual lock. One key can open only one lock and the same key may not be able to open any other lock.

Key to the happiness of each individual person depends upon his/her peculiar disposition, needs, wants and circumstances. A monetarily very rich person may be poor in health and vice versa also.

The situation that causes unhappiness even in case of the same person may change from time to time. The key to happiness of a person trapped in police custody may be to find escape from it as soon as possible. The key to happiness for the same person lost in the blistering heat of the desert may be a pool of cool water surrounded by shady trees.

There are some problems that usually cause miseries to the mankind at large and make him unhappy. These problems can usually be classified into broad categories such as:

food,

shelter,

health,

and above all, money.

Going by the metaphor of ‘key’ there can be a master key that can open several locks. So the same master key may work successfully in dealing with the broad categories of human misery.

Everybody needs some work to earn money to meet his elementary and natural needs such as food, health and shelter.

The first element of your master key to happiness is your choice of work or profession.

Your choice of work should not be guided by the lust for money. If you choose a profession which you love passionately, you will derive maximum happiness from doing that work and you will be able to deliver optimum output too. A great part of a person’s day is spent doing work. If you love your work, you will remain happy and contented most part of the day.

The state of fulfillment and happiness may spill over to your family and friends thus making them happy too.

Happiness is a commodity which multiplies the more you give and share it with others. You should not choose a work simply because it is most paying and someone else is doing it more successfully and making lots of money from it. The basic guiding principle in the choice of your profession or work should be: I too will something make and joy in its making.

You will never feel bored, tired, tense and unhappy in doing that work. Hopefully it will prove to be substantially remunerative also.

The second element of this master key to happiness is to be contented with your earnings and never to feel jealous of your neighbor, relative, friend or brother who may be richer than you.

We usually do not feel jealous of a Bill Gates millions of others who are hugely richer than us and we cannot relate with them possibly because they are remotely placed from us. So why feel jealous of our brother, relative, friend or a neighbor because they are closer to us? Most of us measure our level of prosperity and happiness with these persons simply because we can relate with them. Quite possibly Jesus Christpreached us to love our neighbors simply because of our general tendency to be jealous and therefore hateful of them.

Contentment, in fact, is a natural corollary to choosing a work that you love more than merely earning money out of it. Those who do a work for the joy of doing it are naturally contented by temperament and they do not, therefore, need any key to happiness as such.

The third tooth or element of the master key to happiness is to count your blessings, another virtue which is naturally allied with the virtues of deriving joy and contentment from work.

Looking at the millions of those who are much more miserable than us helps you to count your blessings and generates contentment with what you have and not to feel miserable for what you do not have or cannot have.

These are broadly the three virtues, the three teeth of the master key to happiness. If you do not naturally possess these virtues, you need to make conscious efforts to cultivate them. There is no alternative to this.

The key to being happy is knowing the things that would make you happy. There are many meaning where in a person may utilize the benefits of happiness. With this in hand, you should know your own definition of happiness. Try to seek the right kind of happiness t u need. Let your mind explore the possibilities ahead of you which in turn would provide you the joy you are waiting for. Here are some suggestions on how to be happy.